I think the lyrics from the song “Black Cadillac” fit this tired old 1949 example, which is for sale on here on craigslist in Kern County near San Diego, pretty well. If you want to imagine this car back on the road – “And wave bye bye from a long, black Cadillac”.

My grandfather drove this exact car and color from 1949 to 1953 and I remember riding in its massive back seat. 1949 was a great year for Cadillac design; in my opinion, at least, these were beautiful cars with great proportions.

This particular Cadillac’s back seat is filled with old parts that, according to the seller, don’t go with this car. In fact the entire car seems to have been used primarily as a storage unit for parts from other cars. The paint is faded to gray and the interior is trashed, but according to the seller, the car is solid and “about 98% complete.”

Of course, I can’t help wondering what the missing 2% is. The seller states (the incredibly obvious) “Car needs to be restored.”

This Caddy has been off the road since the 1970s and the seller offers the intriguing mention that it was a “movie car”, but like the missing parts, a prospective buyer will have to get more information about what that means. As you can see from the photos, it looks like it has been sitting for quite some time. It’s been in a dry climate though, so the body seems to be in pretty good condition except for one dent.

Rough as it is, being a fairly common four-door model, and needing thousands of dollars. and many hours of work even to get it into running condition, much less restored, the seller’s asking price of $4,500 seems way too high to me. Hopefully this number is just a starting point for a negotiation. To me this looks more like a $1,500 car.

If the body is as solid as it looks, despite the work needed, this car has potential for a new owner to get it back on the road. Is this car appealing to my fellow Barn Finds readers?